Kyla Barry ’20 Brings Creativity – and High Value – to Email Marketing

Whether she is digging into data or putting her creative programming skills to the test, email marketer Kyla Barry ’20 is happiest when she is solving complex problems.

Barry is also unafraid to chart new territory in her life and career: she is among the first visual arts and technology majors to graduate from Stevens with the creative programming concentration.

“I knew I wanted to study design, and that I wanted to experience New York City,” she explains. “I was touring a lot of campuses when I received a letter from the head swimming coach at Stevens. I was a swimmer all my life, but I didn’t expect to stay in the sport after high school. It was a nice idea, and one I thought was worth exploring.”

“The campus, well, it sells itself,” she continues. “I loved that I could go to college so close to New York City.”

Initially, Barry hoped that her career path would involve the intersection between computers and human interaction design. “But Stevens lets you explore so much more.” she says. “We were taught a variety of programs that made me feel like I would be able to quickly adapt to any new software in the workforce, and I had a ton of exposure to different disciplines that really helped pave my career and goals.”

Internships at Ogilvy Health and Prudential Private Capital expanded her understanding of marketing as well. She found her niche in email marketing, which draws on her design sensibilities as well as her skills in creative coding. Following graduation from Stevens, Barry honed her skills as an email marketing specialist at Blue Apron and a CRM and lifecycle assistant manager at Hairstory. In addition to proofing and launching campaigns, she drew insights about their impact from Looker and Google Analytics. She also worked with vendors to ensure smooth tech stack integration of new software.

In 2023, she joined Grubhub as associate marketing CRM ops. She supports all of the company’s email deployment, working cross-functionally with product teams to develop and refine their email operations. “Email is a very cost-efficient revenue driver,” she says. “And it allows me to creatively problem solve using my coding skills.”

Barry developed more than coding and design skills at Stevens. In addition to swimming for the Ducks’ varsity team, she participated in Active Minds, a campus-based mental and physical health promotion organization. She also joined Phi Sigma Sigma Delta Zeta Chapter, taking on the role of historian. “I was in charge of the organization’s social media presence,” she says. “I was responsible for the sorority’s image in the outside world.”

Her social media strategy for Phi Sigma Sigma included reaching out to alumni. “Alumni are very important to students,” she says. “I wanted to bridge that gap and to celebrate alumni successes as well as student achievements.”

As an alumna, Barry is continuing to build these connections at Stevens. She recently participated in a new mentoring program, assisting a student who wants to pursue a career in marketing. She also participated in a “5 Under 5” alumni panel of graduates from the last five years who shared their career journeys with students.

“Most engineering disciplines have pretty straightforward career paths,” Barry points out. “With creative arts and technology, there can be some ambiguity about what you can do. Marketing, design, and branding can take you in very different directions. It really helps students to learn how people have used this particular set of skills to advance their careers.”

Barry is still in touch with members of her Stevens cohort, and she hopes to get them – and others – back to Castle Point to support current students through everything from mentoring and internships to job searches. She also communicates as a group facilitator on LinkedIn.

“I post internships and jobs whenever I can,” she says. “And I try to keep the conversation going to encourage more alumni to engage. People want to help. This is another way of giving them a platform to do so.”